AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL UK MARCH 2021 NEWS from WARRINGTON GROUP ACTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS HOPE FOR HUMANITY

No GROUP MEETINGS until further notice DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

His Excellency the Italian ISRAELI HOUSE DEMOLITIONS Ambassador to the DRC, his bodyguard and his driver have been killed in the Eastern part of the country'. An armed group ambushed them as they travelled in a 2-car convoy to a World Food Programme school feeding project. Luca Attanasio, 43, died in hospital. Mr Attanasio was a passenger in one of two vehicles travelling about 15km north of Goma when the attack th On 9 Feb. 2021 over 80 MPs from different happened. parties, from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, asked the UK’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in a letter to Individual at Risk- Loujain al-Hathloul “make clear to its Israeli counterpart that In May 2018, Loujain relations cannot continue as normal in the al-Hathloul was event of such transgressions”. detained without "As you are well aware, the forcible transfer charge or trial. For of an occupied population is a grave violation the first three months of the Fourth Geneva Convention, as is the of detention, Loujain transfer of an occupier’s population into endured torture, occupied territory, which includes East sexual abuse and Jerusalem," the letter read. other ill-treatment “All measures should be considered including and had no access to her family or lawyer. reducing diplomatic engagement and Loujain is a women's rights defender who banning trade in settlement products in full peacefully campaigned for an end to the male conformity with international law obligations guardianship system in Saudi Arabia and fought in order to challenge the settler economy that for women's right to drive. In Dec. 2020, Loujain was sentenced to five years and eight months in profits from the occupation,” it added. prison. She has appealed her sentence. On 10 Adding that Israel's settlements are illegal, Feb. she was conditionally released from MPs said: “Such a step is not a sanction but a prison but she is not free yet as she is facing measure designed to ensure that the UK does probation and a 5-year travel ban & denied everything in its power to ensure it does not justice for her ill-treatment while in custody. assist in such serious breaches of international law.” You can email the Saudi Embassy via the Palestinian territories, including the West Amnesty website: Bank and East Jerusalem, have been under Israeli occupation since 1967. The occupation https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/help- is considered illegal under international law. quash-loujains-sentence?variant=0

CONTACT: Evelyn Kinsella, 39 Beechways, Appleton, WA4 5ER. Tel: 268871 website: www.amnesty.org.uk/warrington @AmnestyWarrngtn www.facebook.com/AmnestyWarrington CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY - WOMEN MAKING A DIFFERENCE 4 of the women featured on Facebook and Twitter during the week leading up to Int. Women’s Day WADI BEN-HIRKI NADIA MURAD The gender gap in education is narrowing Iraqi Yazidi activist globally but in many Nadia Murad is a countries. Girls are still prominent voice in receiving basic literacy skills the fight to help and primary education at women and children lower rates than boys. This affected by war. In gap narrows in higher levels 2014, she was of education, so it’s crucial to kidnapped by the make sure girls are getting an Islamic State and held captive for three education early in life. months. During that time, she was held as a Wadi Ben-Hirki, a youth activist Champion in slave and experienced sexual and physical Nigeria, is advocating for better education violence. access for marginalized communities, After her escape, she became the first person particularly women and children. She to speak on human trafficking to the United founded the Wadi Ben-Hirki Foundation to Nations Security Council. She’s also the address some of the biggest challenges faced founder of Nadia’s Initiative, which helps by youth, especially girls. The foundation those affected by genocide and human runs campaigns like #Street2School, which trafficking. In 2018, she was awarded the provides education to homeless children. By Nobel Peace Prize, alongside Denis Mukwege, making sure these kids have a quality for their work “to end sexual violence as a education, the program is helping them weapon of war and armed conflict.” She is the combat poverty and become independent. first Iraqi and first Yazidi to receive a Nobel The WBH Foundation also addresses the Prize. connection between education and child MELENE ROSSOUW marriage with the campaign #GirlsNotWives. This initiative advocates for the end of child marriage, while also providing an education to girls so that they are less likely to become child brides. SHIRIN EBADI is an Iranian lawyer, human rights activist, and the first female judge in Political empowerment is the largest gender Iran. After Khomeini’s gap with only 25% of all global political seats revolution in 1979, she was dismissed as a are filled by women, with significant variation judge, but then opened a legal practice to from country to country Almost a third of all defend people being persecuted by the countries have women in less than 20% of the authorities. In 2000, she was imprisoned for available seats. criticizing her country’s hierocracy. She won Lawyer and activist Melene Rossouw is the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering working to address this issue in her home efforts for democracy and human rights, country of South Africa. She is the founder of especially those of women, children, and the Women Lead Movement (WLM) to get refugees. She is the first Iranian and first more women involved in politics. Some of Muslim woman to win the prize. She is living their work includes running workshops on in exile due to increased persecution of human rights and democracy, and opponents of the current regime. empowering women to increase their participation in local government.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - Martin Luther King, Jr.